Bowler’s Dictionary
     
    Alley- Playing Surface made of maple and pine boards
     
    Approach - same as runway
     
    Arrows - Aiming points embedded in the lane
     
    baby split - the 2-7 or 3-10 split level
     
    Backup - a ball that falls away to the right for right hand bowlers and to the left for left hand bowlers
     
    Ball rack - where the ball rests before it is rolled and after it returns from the pit
     
    Big fill - 9 or 10 pins on a spare or on a double strike
     
    Board - a lane consists of individual strips of lumber called boards. Pros call them by number, 5th board, 15th board, etc., for targeting purposes.
     
    Bucket - the 2-4-5-8 spare leave for a right hander, the 3-5-6-9 leave for a lefty
     
    Channel - depression to the right and left of lane to guide ball to pit should it leave the playing surface on the way down
     
    Clean game - strike or spare in each of 10 frames
     
    Count - the number of pins knocked down on first ball of each frame
     
    Dead wood - Pins knocked down but remaining on the lane or in the gutter. Must be removed before continuing play
     
    Deflection - the movement of the ball when it comes into contact with the pins
     
    Double - 2 strikes in a row
     
    Dutch 200 - a game scored by alternating strikes and spares
     
    Fill - pins knocked down following a spare
     
    Foul - touching or going beyond the foul line at delivery
     
    Foul line - the marking that determines the beginning of the lane
     
    Foundation - a strike in the 9th frame
     
    Gutter - same as the channel
     
    Gutter ball - a ball that goes into the gutter
     
    Hook - a ball that breaks to the left
     
    Lane - playing surface. same as the alley
     
    Lead off - first man in a team line up
     
    Lofting - throwing the ball well out in the lane rather than rolling it
     
    Mark - a strike or spare
     
    Miss - an error
     
    Nose hit - the first ball hitting directly on the head pin
     
    Open - a frame that doesn’t produce a strike or a spare
     
    Pocket - the 1-3 for righties and 1-2 for lefties
     
    Reading the lanes - discovering whether a lane hooks or holds and where the best place is to roll the ball to score high
     
    Return - the track on which the balls roll from the pit to the ball rack
     
    Runway - starting area also known as the approach... ends at the foul line
     
    Sleeper - a pin hidden behind another pin
     
    Spare - all pins down with 2 balls
     
    Split - a spare leave where the headpin is down and the remaining combination of pins have an intermediate pin down immediately ahead of or between them
     
    Strike - all 10 pins down on the first ball
     
    Strike out - finish the game with 3 strikes
     
    Tandem - 2 pins one behind the other
     
    Tap - when a pin remains standing on an apparently perfect hit
     
    Turkey - 3 strikes in a row
     
    Working ball - a ball with enough action to mix the pins on an off-pocket hit and have them scramble each other for a strike. The same ball break up when it hits the nose
     
    X - symbol for a strike
     
     
    CALLING PINS BY THEIR NUMBERS
     
           1
          3   2
         6  5  4
      10   9   8   7
     
     
    Bowling Etiquette
     
    Stay in your own approach area
    Don’t go over the foul line
    Walk away from the foul line after the ball has reached the pins and you note the score
    Check the number or significant identification mark on the ball...don’t use someone else’s
    Be ready to bowl when it is your turn
    Stay in your seat between turns
    Give the bowler to the right preference
    Control you temper. Be a good loser as well as a gracious winner
     
     
     
         A Typical Scoresheet
     
     
     
    The 2 smaller boxes inside the large frames are utilized to give a ball by ball count of the game. The first ball is recorded in the first of the small boxes. If it is a strike, nothing else is needed. If it isn’t a strike, the number of pins on the first ball is recorded. If it is a split, a circle goes around the number. In the second box goes either a spare or the number of pins felled on the second ball.
     
    If you fail to knock down all 10 pins with both balls (known as a miss or an error) you simply count the number of pins knocked down and record it.
     
    The scoring markings are universal the world over. A strike is signified by an X. A spare is designated by an /, although in some areas the line is reversed. A split is designated by a small circle (0) and the error or miss is recorded with a plain horizontal line.(-). These last two markings are informational, they are not part of scoring.
     
    The main thing to remember about scoring is that it is maintained progessively, frame by frame, and the actual score in one frame may not be determined until two frames later. Keep thinking in 10’s. A spare equals 10 plus what is knocked down with the next ball. A strike equals 10 plus what is knocked down on the next 2 balls.
    Remember, the top score in bowling equals 300. This can only happen if you add the bonus points of each strike (10 plus the next 2 balls).
     

    Back to top